


Bibliophile

by ErikaWilliams



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: M/M, Pining, bookshop au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-17 15:49:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16098821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErikaWilliams/pseuds/ErikaWilliams
Summary: That was why Prompto had practically pushed him out the door to come to the bookstore tonight.  He said if the guy worked almost every Friday night, it wasn’t likely that he was currently dating someone.  Which meant Noct had just as good of a chance with him as anyone else.





	Bibliophile

Noct studied the spines on the books in front of him, tapping each one with his index finger and pulling on it slightly. He checked over his shoulder at the register, but there was still a line. The girl at the front seemed to be having some sort of issue and looked like she was going to be there for a while. She kept pointing at one of her books, flipping her hair over her shoulder with a laugh. Like it was the funniest thing in the world that she was holding up the line. He couldn’t tell if the clerk was into her or not. He was smiling while he was listening to her, but it could have been faked. He did have to pretend for the sake of his job.

She wasn’t worth wondering about. Eventually, everyone else in the bookstore would be gone and as long as no one else came in, he could have the clerk’s attention all to himself. He turned his attention back to the books in front of him. He didn’t need any of these books; they were for classes he wasn’t even taking.

That girl was taking so long, and the store was going to be closed before the clerk was done with the line. He knew this was a bad idea, he should have just stayed at the dorm like Ignis suggested. Find someone more his style back on campus. Stop lusting over the incredible hot bookstore clerk with the tattoos who was totally out of his league. He should bail; Ignis was right. This was a complete waste of his time.

But then he would have to go back to his dorm room and would have to face Prompto who would want to know every single last detail. He would have to tell Prompto that he had left the store without even talking to him. Prompto had been with him the first day he had caught sight of the store’s newest hire. He knew exactly where his best friend stood on the subject. While he had been busy making excuses about how he wasn’t good enough and how the tall drink of water was way out of his league, Prompto had been encouraging him to just go up and talk to the guy. Maybe ask him out on a date. He was never going to know if the guy was interested or not unless he put himself out there. Prompto was the one who had gotten the guy’s name, finding the cheapest book he could find and buying it just so he could report the guy’s name back like a prize.

Gladio. He didn’t go to their college, they would have seen him around before now. They even asked Ignis just in case there was some secret place where they kept the hotter upper classmen so they didn’t cause all the freshmen to have heart palpitations or something. There was no such secret place, so Prompto figured that he probably just transferred into the college on the other side of town. He wasn’t really concerned about where the guy had come from, just so long as he could work up the courage to talk to him before he left town again. 

That was why Prompto had practically pushed him out the door to come to the bookstore tonight. He said if the guy worked almost every Friday night, it wasn’t likely that he was currently dating someone. Which meant Noct had just as good of a chance with him as anyone else.

So he couldn’t go back and face Prompto without at least even attempting to talk to the guy. Prompto had too much faith in him, and besides, he would never hear the end of it. It was just too much hassle to try to switch rooms halfway through the semester. He doubted Iggy would let him stay with him for any length of time. Not for something stupid like this.

The first girl was sent on her way, and Noct heaved a sigh of relief. He didn’t see any phone numbers exchange hands, but at least three other people had gotten in line. He moved to a different section, this one filled with paperbacks. He was more hidden from view but he could still glance around the corner to look at Gladio without making it too obvious that he was staring. Not that anyone would have blamed him for staring. Gladio belonged somewhere else, not in this little town. He deserved to be somewhere more people could appreciate his looks. They were wasted here.

He didn’t even know what he would say to him when he decided to talk to him. He could compliment him on his looks; he was certain the other girl had tried. What would Prompto say to get his attention? Probably something cheesy and dumb. Could he even approach the counter empty handed or was he going to have to make like Prompto and buy something? Did he have enough money to buy anything? They had dollar chocolate bars at the register, but what kind of loser went to a bookstore to buy chocolate? He should have planned this better or at least demanded a game plan from Prompto before he headed out.

Prompto could still help him, and he pulled out his phone and quickly thumbed a text.

‘How am I supposed to do this again?’

‘Dude, just go up and talk to him. I don’t think he bites on the first date.’

‘Talk to him about what?’ He peeked around the corner of the bookshelf again. The line was starting to go down, it was getting late, the store would be closing soon. He was going to have to make his move soon or go home and try this again some other night. And the longer he waited, the more likely it was that someone else would snatch him up.

‘You’re in a bookstore. He works there. Pick a book and ask him about it.’

Pick a book? What kind of book was he supposed to pick without knowing anything about the guy? He might pick up something Gladio had absolutely no interest in and that would backfire. He put his phone back in his pocket, despairing that Prompto was going to be able to help him.

He checked around the bookshelf again, but Gladio was gone. Crap, was it that close to closing time already? Prompto was definitely not going to let him live this one down.

“You’ve been here for quite a while,” a deep voice said from behind him, and he jumped as he turned around, greeted with a broad chest covered by an incredibly tight polo shirt. That should be illegal. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Yeah, I, uh,” he started fumbling at the book shelf behind him, “was wondering what you could tell me about this book.” His sweaty fingers finally grasped onto a book, and he pulled it out in front of him, holding it up for inspection

“Big Bone Lick Pack?” Gladio asked him with a raised eyebrow. Noct glanced behind him at the shelf header to see where he had been standing. Right smack dab in the middle of the erotica section. Oh god. This was the absolute worst. If he didn’t die from embarrassment, he was going to kill Prompto for his very brilliant just pick a book and ask about it strategy. “If you’re into that sort of thing, it has good reviews.” Great, now he had definitely ruined his changes with this guy. Why couldn’t he have been standing in the classic section and pulled out something that made him look smart?

“Are you?” Gladio asked him, looking down at him with those deep amber eyes. Where did he get that rugged scar from anyway? There had to be a story behind a scar like that. “Into that sort of thing?”

“What thing?” he asked, so momentarily distracted that he had temporarily forgotten about the book in his hands.

“You know,” Gladio said, shifting his weight and folding his arms across his chest. “The whole homosexual werewolves having kinky sex thing.”

“….Oh,” he said, feeling the blood rush to his cheeks. He didn’t think this was an appropriate conversation for the two of them to be having before they even had a first date. A first date he was never going to get thanks to Prompto’s brilliant idea. “I, uh, I’m not sure.” The thought had never crossed his mind before.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll know by the time you’re done reading that book.”

Crap, he was actually going to have to buy the book now. And he didn’t even check to see how much it was before he had picked it up. 

“I was just browsing today,” he said, turning around and placing the book back on the shelf in the first empty space he found. “I’ll come back and get it after payday,” he said as he turned back around. Why would he say that? Now he was never going to be able to show his face again. Especially if Gladio was working.

“Since you don’t have any reading plans for tonight, would you like to grab a drink somewhere. My shift’s over in ten minutes.” Wait, was he actually being asked out by the totally hot bookstore clerk? That was not how he had envisioned this evening going. He had concrete plans to go crawling back to his dorm room thoroughly rejected. “I’ll pay,” Gladio offered as if he thought Noct hesitancy was caused by his lack of current funds.

“Um, sure,” he said.

“Great. Just let me finish up here and we’ll pick a place.” As Gladio turned and walked away from him, Noct sent a quick thumbs up emoji back to Prompto.


End file.
